Dorit Kemsley learned the value of earning her own money after making her first dollar babysitting at 11 years old. “I got hooked on working and making money,” she says. “It taught me how to earn money, and what it felt like to make your own money to buy whatever you wanted. It also taught me the value and pleasure of being able to earn your own money and not have to rely on someone else.” Preach!
Now, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star is a successful business woman as the founder and creative director of Beverly Beach. But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. Kemsley is also very familiar with failure. A poor decision in her first company, Dorit International ended up burning through hundreds of thousands of dollars she’d saved but what she lost then, she earned in experience. Her advice? “Learn to walk before you can run.”
Read on to hear how she’s navigated the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, her money advice for new entrepreneurs, and how she handles failure now.
Take us back to the beginning!
I have a business degree in marketing, advertising, and communications. Design and fashion were something that chose me rather than me choosing them. I was offered a job to start an international marketing division in Italy for an already successful swimwear company. I took the opportunity, and from there my career grew. I got involved in design and sales, and after 10 years came back to New York City to open up my own company under my own name.
In my life it was all about the journey. It wasn’t about figuring out what I wanted to do and then pursuing that path. It was one step at a time. I knew I wanted to work and earn money. I've always loved fashion and culture and traveling and languages.
(Cont’d…)
I had already spent a year in Italy and knew that I loved the country so I was perfectly happy to take that job and opportunity knowing full well it would take me on a path that would ultimately get me to where I am today.
What career/business mistake has given you the biggest lesson?
When I opened my first company, Dorit International in New York City, I had just come from working in Italy. Although I had expertise in designing, launching, and selling internationally at that point, what I didn’t realize when you start to sell your own line, is to try to keep your collection small and tight. Learn to walk before you can run. That was a big lesson I learned. I poured a lot of money into my first collection. It was a 120-piece collection produced in Italy and Hong Kong. Financially I had invested way too much money to have a return on my first year. I burned hundreds of thousands of dollars—money I had earned in years prior. I learned a lot that first year. Had I done a smaller collection and launched it slowly and not tried to do everything in one year, it would’ve been an easier process. And of course you learn your lesson and the second collection was a lot smaller.
2020 presented everybody around the globe with new, unprecedented challenges. How did you #FindNewRoads + switch gears towards your new version of success?
With Beverly Beach we manufacture everything in LA and all my manufacturers had shut down so I had no option. It was a matter of pivoting and figuring out what we could do at that point. We had a very successful bronzer in the collection that was doing really well, so I decided to expand in the beauty market and develop a tanning product line. Myself and my partner created this line that has what you need to prep, glow, and maintain a natural looking tan and I’ve just sold it to Walgreens. We're really excited about it.
With regards to my new venture with wedding dresses and evening gowns, an up-and-coming brand in Australia had asked if I wanted to collaborate on a collection with them. Not only was it very much in my space but it really felt like it was a box I wanted to tick. It would not only inspire me, but it was also the right time at the right moment. So I decided to get on board with Nektaria and we’ve been creating incredible designs together. I’ve had such a great time doing it and I'm so excited for everyone to see this new Dorit for Nektaria wedding dress/cocktail range.
How have you remained true and authentic to who you are and what advice can you share for women who are struggling with that?
I think it's really important to find your passion. Those of us that are lucky to have passion and pursue that passion with hard work... I think we’re the lucky ones. To those that don’t know what they're passionate about and are having trouble figuring that out, I'd say to try different things. Put one foot in front of the other. It's very important to constantly move forward. You can't stay stagnant and wait for something to fall in your lap. You have to go out and get it. Even if you don't know exactly what you should be doing, find something that you might enjoy and then try it. You’ll know quite quickly if it's something that you want to pursue, or, if that's your destiny, that will take you on a journey down a path that maybe you should be doing.
For those who haven’t started a business (or are about to) what advice do you have?
My advice to anyone who is starting a business for the first time is do as much research as you can. Try to learn as much as you can. Start small. Learn to walk before you can run. That's the most important lesson that I learned having my own business. Don't try to do everything in the first year. Try to have all your ducks in a row. Put together a good business plan. You’ll need investment and support. Try to speak to as many people as you know that could give you good advice. But remember if you get any advice that you shouldn’t or couldn’t do something that's never stopped me before. I don't believe in the word “impossible”.
What is the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make with money early on?
Much like myself, you get caught up in the vision and dream. You feel like your reputation and image is on the line, so you try and do everything all at once. You want to make it the best, spend as much money as you can. It has to be perfect. Then you end up bleeding your resources, and that's the worst thing any new entrepreneur or business owner can do. You have to find ways to reduce and only do what's necessary.
Focus your resources on things that will help you make money. Nowadays with social media, it's so much easier to build a brand. When I was starting my business we didn't have those opportunities, so a marketing budget was super important. Utilize all the resources you can, particularly those that aren’t going to cost money. There's ways to grow a brand much easier today, and new business owners have it just a little bit easier because of that.
It’s easy to celebrate the wins, but how do you handle failure or when something hasn’t worked out for you?
I have always had the mentality that no matter how hard you fall, you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move forward. If someone has that mentality, no matter what happens they are able to overcome it. There's lessons to learn in failure. There is a reason for it. It's super important to look at what we're supposed to learn from a particular failure. That will help us grow and not make the same mistakes in the future. I don't look at failure as failure. I look at it as a lesson to be learned and you always have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and carry on.
If you could go back to the beginning of your career journey—with the knowledge you have now— what advice would you give yourself?
I'd probably say to myself, “Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay.”
When I feel fear, I…
Talk to my husband.
The best career advice I always give is…
Llearn to walk before you can run.
To be successful, you need to be…
Hardworking.
I turn bad days around by…
Hugging and kissing my little munchkins.
If there were more hours in the day, I would…
Sleep!
